One is out, another must go into the deciding match on Friday. Jonas Wirth had the strongest World Cup opener of the three Germans, overcoming two very different challenges.
Everything was demanded of him in the group stage of the FC Pro World Championship – but nothing could stop him: Unlike Levy Finn Rieck and Dylan Neuhausen, Jonas Wirth was the only German to advance to the knockout stage of the World Cup on Thursday. The eSports player, who represents both VfL Bochum and S8UL Esports, won twice 4-3 – in very different ways.
Jonny faced Italian super talent Samuele Prestigiacomo in his opening match. The 17-year-old had won the eSerie A in May, making a name for himself and securing his ticket to Riyadh. Wirth faced the expected tough task: the German took a 1-0 lead after around 20 minutes of play, but ‘Samugamer’ equalized shortly afterwards (29′). This was to become a recurring pattern.
‘Jonny’ took the lead twice more (54th/76th), but Prestigiacomo equalized immediately (57th/78th). The hard-earned goals were always followed by quick disappointment – a pattern that has broken many a great player. But not Wirth: ‘Samugamer’ had no answer to his header to make it 4-3 (82).
Role reversal: Wirth comes back twice
With this victory and his nerves of steel behind him, ‘Jonny’ started the upper bracket final against Argentina’s Facundo Cowen, who had previously beaten Matheus Fonseca (6-2). It was a similar game to the one against Prestigiacomo – but this time it was Wirth who had to chase the deficit. His virtual keeper conceded the first goal after just ten minutes of play.
Following a fine through ball, ‘Jonny’ struck back with his first good opportunity (29′). At half-time, he could count himself lucky to be 1-1, as Cowen had chances to score two or three goals. A flattering penalty gave the eLibertadores winner the lead again after the restart (53′). However, as the game progressed, Wirth found more and more offensive power, which ultimately led to the 2-2 equalizer (81′).
The battle for a place in the round of 16 went into extra time, in which ‘Jonny’ had the better chances. In the 94th minute of the game, the two-meter man took the lead for the first time, and the 4-2 score sealed the deal (115th minute). Cowen managed to pull one back (120th minute), but the few remaining moments were not enough for the Argentine to force a penalty shootout.
‘GuiBarros’ storms through Group H
Like ‘Jonny’, Brazilian Guilherme Barros also came through the group stage unscathed with two wins and reached the knockout phase. However, the professional, who is under contract with RBLZ Gaming, made his matches clearer than Wirth. GuiBarros kicked off by defeating Dutch player Giovanni Backhuijsen 7-3 to advance to the upper bracket final.
There he faced last year’s Esports World Cup winner, Joao Vasconcelos. The Portuguese had previously defeated Barros’ compatriot Pedro Soares 3-2. However, ‘Jafonso’ got off to a bad start in his duel with the RBLZ eSports player: after less than four minutes of play, he was already 0-1 down against the runner-up of the North American eMLS.
Vasconcelos quickly equalized to make it 1-1 (15th minute), but was unable to defend against some of ‘GuiBarros’ very creative attacks. The Brazilian regained the lead before the virtual half-time break (39th minute) and increased it to 3-1 after around an hour of play. ‘Jafonso’ was then unable to respond to the two-goal deficit.
Vejrgang and Neuhausen in the decider
It is not yet clear who Wirth and Barros will face in the round of 16 on Friday evening. Before the knockout phase begins, the last eight places will be decided. Defending champion Anders Vejrgang will once again have to prevail against Aymane Ouardi, whom he has already beaten 10-2. Neuhausen will face Britain’s Dan Ray.
In addition to Leipzig’s Rieck, Matias Bonanno, Paulo ‘PHzin’ Chaves and Julien ‘Fouma’ Perbal also made a surprise exit from the title race on Thursday. The aforementioned Fonseca and Backhuijzen were also eliminated, as were Walid Hadaoui and Chris de Boer.
You can follow all the results of the FC Pro World Championship 2025 in our match day overview.
